The Enforcement Directorate has opposed former Jharkhand minister Anosh Ekka’s plea in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on his conviction in the disproportionate assets case in which he has been sentenced to seven years in jail by a trial court. Ekka has challenged the Jharkhand High Court order which has dismissed his appeal and upheld the trial court order convicting him in the disproportionate assets case being probed by CBI and ED.
Enforcement Directorate Affidavit
The ED said that there is no question on the stay of operation of the order dated January 20 passed by the Jharkhand High Court and urged the Supreme Court not to consider his plea.
ED, in a recently filed affidavit, submitted that Ekka had committed the offence of money laundering and was involved in criminal activities related to proceeds of crime and further convicted by the trial court vide order dated March 21, 2020, and subsequently, his appeal was rejected by High Court vide on January 20, 2023. Countering Ekka’s plea, ED said “The act of the trial court does not vitiate or hamper the impartial trials.”
Countering Ekka’s argument that the case of corruption was registered prior to the amendment of 2009 and 2013 and hence PMLA would not be attracted, ED submitted that such a submission ought not to be accepted.
“The Petitioner even though would have committed the scheduled offence prior to these amendments, however, he was in possession of the proceeds of crime till December 2014 (as observed under the Impugned Judgment at para 58). Therefore, the offence of money laundering at that date i.e., 2014 was still continuing,” ED said.
The offence of money laundering is a continuing offence irrespective of the date and time of commission of the scheduled offence, the probe agency said. ED said that the charge sheet and FIR revealed that Ekka was involved in corruption/misappropriation of public money at large and thereby earned several crores of rupees by contravening the sections above.
The illegal earning was invested in the purchase of land, vehicles and money in bank accounts and post offices, either in his wife’s name or in the names of his relatives and in company.
ED said that Ekka after becoming Minister, floated a construction company in the name of Ekka Construction Company Pvt Ltd which was registered in the Rural Development Department for the purposes of projecting his ill-gotten income acquired by corrupt or illegal means as tainted property.
Previous Cases
In April the Supreme Court granted bail to former Jharkhand minister Anosh Ekka, who was convicted by a Jharkhand court in a disproportionate assets case.
Anosh Ekka, in a plea filed by advocate on record Nikhil Jain, has challenged the Jharkhand High Court order which has dismissed his appeal and upheld the trial court order convicting him in a disproportionate assets case being probed by CBI and ED.
On January 20, 2023, the Jharkhand High Court upheld the trial court orders convicting Anosh Ekka in the disproportionate assets case being probed by CBI and ED.
A CBI Special Court in Ranchi on February 25, 2020 held petitioner Ekka guilty of the offence under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and has sentenced the petitioner to undergo rigorous imprisonment of seven years and to pay a fine of Rs 50 lakhs.
In 2008, a Vigilance case was registered against Ekka under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, of 1988. Subsequently, the CBI took over the investigation of the case. The charge sheet was filed against him alleging that he while working as a minister in the then Jharkhand government had assets disproportionate to his known source of income.
